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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/24593905">Happy Father's Day, Mr. Stark</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyaspie/pseuds/happyaspie'>happyaspie</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tony Stark is a Good Mentor [53]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Marvel Cinematic Universe</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Father's Day, Father-Son Relationship, Fluff, Indirectly, Nervous Peter Parker, Parent Tony Stark, Peter Parker Calls Tony Stark "Dad", Peter Parker Gets a Hug, Peter Parker Loves Tony Stark, Platonic Relationships, Precious Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Gets a Hug, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Loves Peter Parker, Tony Stark is a Good Mentor, everyone is happy</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-06-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-06-21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-04 06:55:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,178</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/24593905</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/happyaspie/pseuds/happyaspie</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>After May makes an offhanded comment about Tony being her co-parent, Peter starts to think about what that means and quickly realizes that his mentor had become more thana mentor.  He decides to tell him just that...  on Father's Day.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Peter Parker &amp; Tony Stark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series:</b></td><td>Tony Stark is a Good Mentor [53]</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Series URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/series/1397362</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>43</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>521</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Peter Parker Stories, ellie marvel fics - read</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Happy Father's Day, Mr. Stark</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>There was only one thing on Peter's mind as he lay in his bed, staring at the ceiling instead of sleeping and that was Father's Day.  Which seemed like an odd thing for him to be thinking about considering that <em>technically</em>, he didn't actually have a father or even his uncle to celebrate with anymore.   He huffed, readjusted his blankets, and checked the time on his phone.  Then he glanced over at the small package that sitting on his bedside table and sighed.  Just looking at it caused a wave of anxiety to race up his spine and settle deeply in his chest.  Part of him wanted to take the gift and knock it into the partially open drawer so that it was no longer visible but he knew that, in this case, '<em>out of sight, out of mind',</em> wasn't going to work.  </p><p> </p><p>It had all started a couple of weeks prior when he'd mentioned that he planned to spend the weekend with Tony to his Aunt May.  She had confirmed that she was okay with it and then made an off-handed comment about how she had never in a million years ever imagined that she would one day be co-parenting with Tony Stark.   He'd laughed it off at the time but the more time he'd spent contemplating it, the more he'd realized she was sort of right. The two of them did go out of their way to discuss him on a regular basis and not just the spider-man stuff.  May had a tendency to brag about how well he was doing in school and Tony would reciprocate by talking about how quickly he'd learned this or that in the lab with him.  Though he'd never really considered it as, 'co-parenting' because that would insinuate that Tony acted parental with him, which he didn't think was the case. </p><p> </p><p>That is until he'd taken the time to think about it.  There was no denying that Tony cared about him.  He'd not really shown it at first, but the man had become much more affectionate in his own sort of way.  He'd often ruffle his hair, ask him about his day and occasionally give him a friendly pat to the shoulder or firm side-hug.   Peter supposed you could call those kinds of things parental, especially when you took into account the amount of time Tony actually spent with him.  What had started as sporadic lab or training days had become full weekends, often filled with completely non-hero related activities.  Watching late-night movies while throwing popcorn into each other mouths was a fairly regular event.</p><p> </p><p>However, the biggest consideration was that he literally spent entire weekends in his mentor's home, in the room that had been his from the moment he'd stepped into it.   Before he stepped into it, really.  Tony had gone all out.  The walls had been painted red and blue, and numerous lego kits and science books had been purchased to line the custom bookshelves.  He'd been so enamored by it all that, at the time, he'd never really weighed the sentiment behind the gesture until then.  <em>Tony Stark enjoyed his company so much he's given him a room in his own home and an open invitation for him to stay in it whenever he wanted along with it.  </em>That in its self should have been telling.  He didn't know how he'd not thought of that before.</p><p> </p><p>As Peter continued to connect all of the dots he came to the conclusion that Tony had become so much more than a mentor.  He'd irrefutably become the man in his life.  That was something he didn't think he'd ever have again after the loss of his father and subsequently his uncle, which is probably why he'd not really seen his and Tony's growing relationship for what it was until it had been pointed out to him.   </p><p> </p><p>It had taken several days after that for Peter to self-debate about what he wanted to do with that realization.   Ultimately, he determined that he very much wanted to tell Tony exactly how important he was to him.  May had suggested that he sit the man down and talk to him about it.  He'd nodded his head and for some reason, he'd decided that Father's Day would the best time to have that conversation.</p><p> </p><p>That had led him to where he was at the moment.  Lying in his bed, in his room, in Tony's penthouse, trying to convince himself that he hadn't made a huge mistake.  To have been so excited about his plan, he was suddenly and increasingly anxious about actually going through with it.  As such, he ended up falling asleep with a head full of <em>'what ifs.' </em> </p><p> </p><p>Peter ended up sleeping in the next morning, not waking until FRIDAY was calling him down to whatever breakfast him mentor had thrown together for him.  With a deep sigh, he got up and ready for the day before picking the package up off of his bedside table.  Rather than darting out the door once it was in his hand, he paused.  The plan had been to give it to Tony that morning but he was suddenly having second thoughts.  He stood there wavering until the AI was reminding him that Tony was still waiting for him in the kitchen and then put it back on the table.  There was no rush.  He was going to be with the man all day.</p><p> </p><p>Breakfast was consumed at the kitchen table and then, as always, Tony suggested that they return to the lab.  Before they started towards the elevator, Peter's thoughts drifted to the gift in his bedroom but he shook his head at the thought.  He wasn't ready and there would be plenty of time later.  He wasn't meant to leave until evening, just in time to make it home to eat dinner with his aunt.  That gave him hours to find just the right moment.</p><p> </p><p>As it tended to do, the time in the lab swallowed the day as if it were nothing.  Sketches were made into models, models were made into prototypes, and prototypes were put through test after test as the hours ticked by.  Neither Peter nor Tony paused for much.  Even lunch was eaten without ever having to leave the lab.  The deli down the street delivered and that was good enough for them.</p><p> </p><p>Evening approached without due warning and before Peter knew it, FRIDAY was announcing that it was time for him to start getting ready to go home.  It was then that his mind, once again, jolted back to the neatly wrapped present that he'd <em>still</em> not given to his mentor. </p><p> </p><p>Because his room in the penthouse was stocked with everything he could possibly need, there was no real reason for him to return to his room before he left.  He had to make up an excuse to go back up and was actually slightly surprised that Tony didn't call him out on the small mistruth.  Typically the man could tell if he was lying, even if it was only by omission. </p><p> </p><p>After being prompted to 'hurry it up' he ran full speed towards the elevator, down the hall and back into his room.  Then he just stood there chewing his lip.  He was out of time.  He had no choice, he had to give it to him before he left.   Yet, he couldn't seem to bring himself to actually carry it back down to the lab where the man was waiting for him.</p><p> </p><p>After very little debate, Peter ended up leaving the gift right in the middle of the breakfast bar that divided the kitchen from the living space.  Afterwhich, he ran back into his room and scrawled out a message onto a sheet of graphing paper, folded it in thirds, and set it under the package before hurrying back to the elevator.</p><p> </p><p>"Find whatever you were looking for?" Tony asked when he reentered the lab.  Peter nodded and soon the two of them were getting into one of Tony's expensive sports cars so that the man could drive him home. </p><p> </p><p>__________</p><p> </p><p>When Tony got back from dropping Peter off he went straight back to the lab where he continued to work well into the evening.  It wasn't until he found himself having to retype every other word in his coding that he decided it was time to call it a night.  He closed up the shop with a wave of his hand and casually wandered back towards the penthouse, noting, as he always did once the kid had gone home, that it was extremely quiet.</p><p> </p><p>Before retiring to his bedroom, Tony decided that he may as well eat something and strode into the dimly lit kitchen area before asking FRIDAY to turn on the lights, squinting at the sudden brightness.  He had to blink several times in order to get his vision to clear.  Once it had, he spotted something on the counter and cocked his head to the side in curiosity.</p><p> </p><p>At first, he'd thought that Peter had left something there but once he was close enough to see the package, he realized that 'Mr. Stark' had been messily written across an unevenly folded paper beneath it.  More curious than ever, he slowly opened up the note.  </p><p> </p><p>
  <em>'Mr. Stark,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>I know that you're not really my dad or anything but I wanted you to know that I think you're awesome and I care about you a lot. I've been wanting to tell you that and today seemed like a good day to do it.   I hope your gift.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Happy Father's Day,</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Peter Parker'</em>
</p><p> </p><p>At first, all Tony could do was stare at the words on the page.  Particularly the ones at the bottom.  Peter had bought him a Father's Day gift and that made him feel oddly proud.  He knew there were definitely times when he saw the kid as something of a son.  Especially when they were just lounging around in their pajamas and binging whatever show the teenager was currently into.  It was comfortable and he looked forward to those moments more than anything. </p><p> </p><p>Just thinking about it brought a smile to his face and he ended up reading over the massage three times before finally set it down in favor of seeing what was inside the paper.  He had absolutely no idea what the kid would have bought him but he was eager to find out.  The box was square and small enough to sit on his palm.  It didn't weigh much and there was no sound when it was shaken.  With a shrug of his shoulders, he started to pick at the corner of the wrapping, revealing a white box.   He opened it up without hesitation had chuckled to himself when he realized it was a coffee mug.  As he turned it over in his hands his eyes fell on the custom words that had been printed across the side.  'Iron Dad.'  </p><p> </p><p>Now, outright, laughing, Tony held the mug up with one hand and ran his fingers of the words with the other.  He was suddenly struck by a strong desire to pull the kid into a full-on hug but seeing as the kid was already at home, hopefully sleeping, given the hour, he settled for sending a quick text.  'Thanks, kid.  Come by tomorrow after school,' he typed out and was unsurprised when he received no answer.  It was nearing one in the morning.</p><p> </p><p>__________</p><p> </p><p>Peter woke up the next morning to find the missed message on his phone and smiled.   He'd laid in his bed, constantly checking his phone for any sort of acknowledgment until he'd finally fallen asleep around midnight.  Waking up to find the simple text was more than enough to ease his mind and he was already looking forward to seeing Tony later that afternoon. </p><p> </p><p>The school day went by agonizingly slowly as he waited for the last bell to ring.  However, as soon as it did, he was out the door in an instant.  It didn't take him long to get to the tower and he was soon stepping into the elevator.  "Where's Mr. Stark?" he asked after FRIDAY had greeted him and was happy to find out that the man was in the penthouse waiting for him.</p><p> </p><p>"Hey, kiddo!" Tony said the second the elevator doors opened and then crossed the room to pull Peter into a tight hug.  "Needless to say, I got your gift," he whispered before relinquishing his hold and went to retrieve the coffee-filled mug.</p><p> </p><p>"I'm glad you like it," Peter said, as he wandered towards the kitchen where the man was leaning up against the counters.</p><p> </p><p>Tony reached up with the hand that wasn't holding onto his new favorite mug to ruffle the boy's hair, as he often did, and chuckled. "Like it?  Kid, it came from you.  I love absolutely<em> everything</em> about it."</p><p> </p><p>Blushing ever so slightly at the implications of those words, Peter leaned back in to hug the man one more time.  "I love you too."</p><p> </p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Come find me on Tumblr!  <a>yes-i-am-happyaspie</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
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